Microsoft Academia Accelerator Program encourages digital transformation at grassroot levels

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Bengaluru: Microsoft India today hosted AXLE, a Microsoft Academia Accelerator an annual showcase of collaboration between Microsoft and academia. Academia Accelerator is one of Microsoft’s most comprehensive campus engagement programs aimed at building a deep, long-term association between industry and academia in India and reiterates the company’s mission to enable people to realize their full potential.

Academia Accelerator Showcase builds on the mentor support, publishing support and pitch support provided and eventually provides the opportunity for the best among India’s student developers to hone their CS skills further.

Microsoft believes that among the new technologies that offer huge potential to ensure build richer, cleaner, healthier societies, AI could be considered the foremost. It can transform the output of people and organisations across every sector including better management of catastrophes and disasters and delivering relief materials where required. Keeping in line with this, the theme for Codefundo++ National Challenge under Academia Accelerator was “Build state of the art technology to predict or manage natural disasters better”. The challenge received great response with 5000+ participating students across 21 colleges, and 350 + new projects as Academia Accelerator program celebrated its seventh year of collaboration with students and faculty in India. Top 21 teams showcased their solutions today at the new Microsoft Campus in Bengaluru.

To further explore more possibilities around the same, topics such as AI for Earth: Solutions for Global Environmental Challenges, Health Data Collaborative Enabling AI Network and AI on the Edge and for the Edge to Design Smarter Cities were amongst the favored themes which were discussed during the keynote sessions at the Showcase today.

“Academia Accelerator aims to provide insights to students about important technology trends and practices and adding industry know-how to the existing Computer Science curriculum. At Microsoft, we see unique ways of how AI can be used to improve products, services and how fostering the dialogue on the beneficial use of AI can help in enabling long term sustainable solutions to large scale challenges.” said Chitra Sood, Director Business Management, Microsoft India (R&D) Private Ltd. “India has immense potential to be a hub of development for AI driven solutions. Microsoft’s engagement with the Academia reiterates our commitment to engage and enrich the innovation journey of students in Engineering schools. It makes AI and its benefits accessible and drive digital transformation at the grassroot level. We are excited by the enthusiasm shown by students using AI and anticipate that they will apply their learnings from this challenge through their career,” she added.

The event brought together Computer Science faculty, Microsoft leaders and employees, several industry influencers and students from top engineering colleges of India who showcased innovative ways of building state of the art technology to predict or manage natural disasters better.

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